BARS AND TONE-Aboard the Floating Palace of a Good Time Billionaire Volume 1

Another genre-breaker out of Canada. Bars and Tone’s debut starts with some laid-back indie pop/soul, but by the fourth song the rap starts: For Nothing. It’s the kind of rap song that would be at home in the collection of any Gorillaz fan. The next cut, “Rock My Soul,” seems to owe a debt to Everlast. Back when he was good. And then we’re on to an atmospheric, almost ambient track titled “Montreal.”

Truly diverse, and truly gifted, this album is a grower. Listen to it twice, and you’ll feel like you know the whole thing by heart–in a good sense. Yeah, there’s a lot of music like this. But most of it is boring. This one never is.